Effects of Different Inclusion Levels of Chicken Offal Meal as a Replacement for Fish Meal on Growth Performance and Nutrient Utilization of Clarias gariepinus Fingerlings

Abstract

This study evaluated the effect of partial fish meal (FM) replacement with chicken offal meal (COM) on the growth performance, feed utilisation and survival of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, fingerlings. Five isonitrogenous (35% crude protein) and isolipidic (10% lipid) experimental diets were formulated, in which chicken offal meal replaced fish meal at 0% (control), 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. A total of 150 fingerlings (initial weight 2.36 ± 0.02 g) were randomly stocked at 10 fish per 50-L hapa in a completely randomised design with three replicates per treatment and were fed twice daily at 5% of body weight for 63 days. The results showed that moderate replacement levels significantly improved growth performance. Fish fed the 50% and 75% COM replacement diets generally recorded higher final body weight, weight gain and specific growth rate (SGR), while the 75% replacement diet produced the best feed conversion ratio (FCR) and feed efficiency ratio (FER) compared with the control and other inclusion levels (P < 0.05). Complete replacement (100% COM) reduced growth performance. Survival rates ranged from 46% to 73% across treatments. The findings indicate that properly processed chicken offal meal can partially replace fish meal in practical diets for C. gariepinus fingerlings, with the best performance observed at moderate inclusion levels.